Energy efficiency, security, and safety are just a few of the concerns that driving the need for intelligent systems to control environmental conditions such as, for example, light and heat, in homes and buildings. As used herein, an intelligent system is a system in a home or building that monitors an environmental condition (e.g., light intensity, light quality, temperature, ventilation, humidity, filtration/air quality, sound, etc.) in the home or building, and potentially controls the same or another environmental condition based on one or more predetermined parameters or events (e.g., time of day, occupancy, temperature, etc.) and logic (e.g., if x, then y, or other common logic operator). Typically, although not necessarily, such intelligent systems may also involve an environmental device (e.g., lamp, HVAC unit, dehumidifier, etc.) for effecting an environmental change (e.g., increasing/decreasing light, increasing/decreasing temperature, etc.) to meet a desired environmental condition (e.g., more/less light, more/less heat, etc.)
For example, a programmable thermostat is an example of a simple intelligent system. It sets the temperature of a room based on the time of day, which causes the HVAC unit to react and either cool or heat the room to the desired temperature. Examples of more sophisticated intelligent systems include intelligent lighting systems, which turn lights on and off in a particular space depending on whether the space is occupied, and security systems, which monitor movement in and about a home or building, and activate an alarm (e.g., flashing light or sound or notification to a mobile device) when the movement is determined to be that of a person who should not be there at that particular time of day. Still other intelligence systems are being developed as the ability to sense movement and measure a wide range of environmental conditions becomes more reliable and less expensive.
Often these intelligent systems depend on wireless technology between the different system components (e.g., sensors, processors and environment devices to control the environment). Wireless technology is preferred because metallic connection among the systems components is required, and, thus, the system components can be installed in a preexisting home or building without the need to route wiring through the walls/ceilings.
Although wireless communication is convenient, it is not particularly reliable. For example, the wireless bandwidth designated for such use is narrow and is becoming more crowded. The competition among different devices in this space often causes signals to be dropped, corrupted, or otherwise disrupted. For example, older cordless phones, which operate in this bandwidth, can disrupt the communication of other wireless devices when transmitting. Additionally, wireless communication tends to be limited by distance and signal-blocking walls and other structures within homes and building. Therefore, there is a need for intelligent systems having components that are easily installed, yet are not faced with the limitations of wireless communications mentioned above. The present invention fulfills this need, among others.